Sara Shok advises national employers on a broad range of labor and employment matters arising throughout the employment lifecycle, from hiring and onboarding through discipline, separation, and workforce restructuring. She partners with employers to address day-to-day workplace issues, develop practical risk-management strategies, and implement legally compliant solutions that align with business objectives.
Sara regularly counsels clients on employee relations matters, including performance management, disciplinary actions, workplace conduct concerns, and terminations. She works closely with employers to develop separation strategies designed to minimize risk and reduce potential exposure while supporting operational goals.
A significant portion of Sara’s practice is devoted to advising employers on complex leave and accommodation issues. She regularly counsels clients on compliance with federal, state, and local paid and unpaid leave laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), California Family Rights Act (CFRA), Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL), paid sick leave requirements, and disability accommodation obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and state equivalents. She assists employers in navigating challenging interactive process issues, assessing reasonable accommodations, and managing overlapping leave obligations.
Sara is a core member of the firm’s Handbook and Policies Practice Group, where she advises employers on the development, review, and revision of employee handbooks, workplace policies, and multi-state employment practices. Her work focuses on helping employers maintain legally compliant policies that are tailored to their operational needs and workforce strategies.
Sara also regularly advises clients regarding discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and other workplace misconduct issues. She conducts sensitive workplace investigations involving complaints of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, employee misconduct, and policy violations, and provides strategic recommendations regarding findings, corrective action, and risk mitigation. In addition, she develops and delivers customized harassment prevention, discrimination prevention, workplace investigations, and management training programs designed to meet both legal requirements and business objectives.
Her practice includes counseling employers on a wide variety of wage and hour issues, including employee classification, exemption analyses, independent contractor considerations, meal and rest period compliance, wage payment practices, and compensation-related policies. Sara works with employers to identify and address potential wage and hour risks and develop practical compliance strategies that reduce exposure to litigation and agency enforcement actions.
Sara also advises employers on workforce planning initiatives, including reductions in force, reorganizations, and other employment transitions. She counsels clients regarding compliance with federal and state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Acts and the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA). She partners with employers to create comprehensive reduction-in-force strategies that include business justifications, defensible selection criteria, adverse impact analyses, severance and release agreements, and communications planning for affected and remaining employees.
Throughout her practice, Sara focuses on integrating legal compliance, practical business considerations, and proactive risk management to help employers address workplace challenges before they develop into disputes.